


Unexpected

by FaygoMayhem



Series: Love Is Whatever You Make It To Be [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Language, F/M, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-04 04:28:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18336182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaygoMayhem/pseuds/FaygoMayhem
Summary: It's been three years since Riku has spoken to anyone at his hometown of the Destiny Islands. Now back for the summer, he hopes to reconnect with his best friend Sora and maybe even tell him the terrible secret that he's been harboring for years. Instead he ends up bonding with Sora's surly older brother, Vanitas, and the summer takes a turn in a direction he never would have predicted.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This author's note is the same for the first chapter of all three parts of the series. 
> 
> Welcome. As some may have noticed, the fic I posted a few days ago under the same title as the name of this series has been deleted and is now split into three separate works. There were many reasons I made this decision, but ultimately it was because the experimental style wasn't working and I felt the individual stories were suffering for it. Splitting them up gives me more freedom to flesh out certain sections and the chance to present each story properly. 
> 
> The first two chapters of each story in the series are re-posts from the previous work that are largely unchanged except for a few minor edits. The interlude sections have been worked in to the story they belonged with and are no longer singled out. They will update in order within a few days of each other at the most.
> 
> Most importantly, it is not necessary to read the other parts in order to understand each individual story. Characters and events from the other parts will be referenced, but the information is all supplemental. Also, all the characters have been aged into their 20's.
> 
> Before this note gets way too long, let's get on with it.

It’s around 9 pm when Vanitas is finally able to pull into a space of a parking lot that’s far too crowded for an average weekday. Normally he wouldn’t be caught dead in this place; but according to the handful of people that he almost willingly interacts with on a regular basis, he apparently has nothing better to do with his time than to spend his Thursday evening slumming around all the stupid tourist traps and hole-in-the-wall dives scattered around the bustling little island they all call home.

From what he’s seen so far, the Paradise Lounge is probably the worst of them. According to the tourist brochures skimmed through while bored out of his mind in waiting rooms, some rag-tag group of thirty-something nobodies picked it up a few years ago when the property manager was down on his luck and worked tirelessly for years to renovate it into the ‘social and cultural hotspot’ and ‘must see attraction’ it is today.

What a sack of shit.

There’s nothing even remotely attractive about this place, unless you happen to be really floored by plastic flowers and cheap tiki lights that can be found by any try-hard college frat boy at a dollar store looking to add a flavor of ‘authenticity’ to one of their stupid Luau parties. Some muscle-bound airheads in little grass skirts are out on a patio stage twirling fire batons and trying to look impressive; while big-breasted women wearing towel-like skirts with giant slits up the side and little strips of cloth tied around their chests serve drinks that are at least ninety percent water and fruit juice to the absolutely delighted crowd of yuppie tourists and snowbirds about an inch from death.

Everything here reeks of desperation; from the atmosphere, to the local sad sacks drinking alone at the bar eyeing up groups of drunk and ditsy blonde bimbos like they have any chance in hell at getting laid, to the pitiful wait-staff with their fake smiles and pseudo island lingo doing everything short of stripping naked and dancing under a limbo pole for a tip.

Next time he sees Braig, he’s kicking his teeth in for sending him on this little scouting mission. No way in hell a place like this would hire a local metal band known mostly for the property damage left at every venue they’ve ever played. Fifteen minutes wasted waiting for a parking space and he barely even made it through the front door. They owe him so much for this.

Last item on his list is clear across town. It takes just enough time that the wailing guitar and thumping bass of the new stereo he’d just installed in the rattling black death-trap of a truck he calls his is able to erase most of the sickening unease caused by the sheer amount of fake bullshit he’d just suffered through. Uncultured idiots find his kind of music violent and angry, but to Vanitas it’s like a lullaby.

His phone pings and alerts that he’s arrived, but it still takes about ten minutes of circling around the crowded and claustrophobic downtown alleys to find a place to park. He fucking hates the city. The place he’s looking for is a massive and run-down brick building looming ominously on a street corner across from a neon-lit convenience store. The windows are tinted, and the only thing that gives the place away as more than yet another abandoned property is a dim yellow light bulb illuminating a faded wooden sign above the door that reads ‘Hollow Bastion’ in stylized Gothic letters. Now this is more like it.

The stench of stale cigarette smoke is the first thing that hits as he walks in the door. The place is barely lit, and the only thing really helping to guide the way to the bar are a few covered fluorescent lights hanging above billiard tables lining the edges of the room. In the shadows he can make out silhouettes of mostly empty tables circled around a small unoccupied stage toward the back, and some indiscernible low-volume rock plays in the background.

People are scattered around a wooden bar in the center, nursing drinks and chattering about nothing, and a few heads turn and quickly look away as he crosses the room and takes a seat on a stool in the corner. The movement gets the attention of a tall brunette dressed head-to-toe in leather and scowling into an arrangement of empty shot glasses behind the bar.

“What can I get you?” his voice is hard, flat, and doesn’t contain a single hit of interest. Hot.

“Double whiskey, straight.”

The bartender nods and pours a couple shots of amber liquid into a glass tumbler, then slides it over. Vanitas takes a sip and nods back in approval.

It’s good shit, not any of that garbage you can get for ten bucks a bottle from the store across the street. The bartender leaves him sipping at his drink and he takes some time to enjoy the quiet environment. This place is kind of perfect, Braig might just be forgiven after all.

After finishing the first drink he signals the guy back over for another. When he sets it down Vanitas looks him in the eye and flashes the most charming smirk in his arsenal, “Any chance this place is in the market for some entertainment?”

The bartender cocks an eyebrow and crosses his arms in front of his chest, “Depends who’s asking.”

“Nightmare Requiem,” recognition flashes in the guy’s eyes at the name drop and Vanitas smirks at him again, correct in the assumption that there was no way a local guy wearing that many belts hadn’t heard of them.

“I’ll ask the manager,” he deadpans and walks away. About five minutes later he comes back and hands Vanitas a white card with a phone number and the name ‘Tifa Lockhart’ scrawled on the surface.

“She said to call and set something up,” the guy gives a bare hint of a smile and Vanitas tosses the rest of his drink back in victory. Sliding a twenty on the counter toward him, he stands up and walks out. Just as he’s about out the door the sound of heavy footsteps follows behind him.

“Sora?”

Vanitas turns around and some silver-haired toolbag in designer jeans and a hideous white and yellow vest is staring at him in wonder and disbelief like he’d just ran into Mickey Mouse at a dive bar. The look vanishes as he sees Vanitas’ face, probably sent running by the glare he sends his way, “Who the fuck are you?”

The stranger’s eyes widen, then harden as wheels kick into motion. He pauses then lets out a disappointed sigh, “Vanitas.”

“Your powers of deduction are absolutely astounding,” rolling his eyes Vanitas looks him over, “Now who are you again?”

“I—Riku. I’m Riku. It’s been a while, Van.”

Damn a lot changes in five years. The guy in front of him looks almost nothing like the smug little shit that used to lead his perfect younger brother into all sorts of trouble, way back before Vanitas’ name became something of a curse to utter in polite company. He’s tall, muscular, and has a confidant set to his shoulders that almost screams ‘douchebag’. Vanitas is a little surprised he didn’t try to take a swing at him the minute he realized who he was.

“What the hell are you doing back here? Last I heard you’d run off to college on the continent and never looked back. Don’t tell me you actually missed this shit-hole,” he crosses his arms and sneers at Riku.

It was a little insulting that one of the lucky few who’d ever made it off this rock was standing in front of him like one of those stupid inspirational advertisements. ‘For the low, low, price of hundreds of thousands of dollars that you don’t have, you too can return to your hometown smelling like a fresh rose while everyone you’ve ever known rots in the filth of a destitute island wasteland. Hurry and order now!’ Asshole.

 “I’m just here for the summer before grad school,” his every word is tinged with the subtle tones of “I’m better than you and I know it’ and the whiskey Vanitas just drank is urging him to do something stupid.

“So, what? You came back here to lord your shiny new piece of paper over everyone’s head then vanish back to fuck-knows-where? Ballsy.”

“No, I—Forget it,” Riku puts his hands in his pockets and turns to walk away, but stops and turns back, “Could you let Sora know I’m here?”

“What makes you think Sora and I even talk?” The nerve of this guy, really. Vanitas would be impressed if he didn’t piss him off so much.

Riku crosses his arms and smirks at him with a knowing look in his eye, “Because you’re not as much of an asshole as you pretend to be, Van. Sora used to read me your letters.”

“Tell him yourself, dickhead,” Vanitas nearly hits him, but decides at the last second with fists curling at his sides that he’s not worth the trouble. “Oh, that’s right, you haven’t actually spoken to him in three years. I’m sure he’s just _dying_ to get back in touch with the guy that bullied him for years under the guise of friendship and then hung him out to dry.”

Laughing at the look of shock and hurt Riku gives him, Vanitas turns around and storms off down the street. He’s half-expecting Riku to follow, but when he looks back he’s still standing there pitiful and defeated. The kid he used to know would have pounced on him in a heartbeat after a line like that. Guess old age makes pansies out of everyone. Oh well, at least he had the decency to at least look guilty after the shit he’d pulled.

 It only takes the five-minute walk back to his truck for Vanitas to get over the entire conversation. Engine revved and music booming, he pulls out his phone to call Braig and tell him the good news.

-

When Sora gets home late Sunday night after a date with Kairi, he finds a black mass on his doorstep leaning against the porch and smoking a cigarette. Excited, he walks up and throws his arms around its neck. His brother grunts and pushes him off, blowing smoke in his face, and Sora waves it off with a laugh, “It’s good to see you, Vanitas.”

“Don’t lie Sora, it doesn’t suit you,” his brother’s golden eyes glint in the dark as he takes another drag of the cigarette.

Sora’s face drops, he’ll never understand why Vanitas always acted like he didn’t belong around him. Yeah, he was pretty messed up and did a lot of stupid and mean things to people, but he was his brother and Sora would always like having him around.

He shakes his head, “So why are you here? I hope you didn’t get kicked out of your apartment again.”

“What? I can’t drop by to see my darling baby brother without an ulterior motive? You wound me Sora,” Vanitas smirks at him and drops the cigarette on the ground to stamp it out, leaving the butt on his steps.

Sora laughs, “I’d believe that if you’d ever done it before even once in your life.”

Vanitas shrugs and crosses his arms, leaning back against the porch again, “Doesn’t mean I can’t start now. How you been, squirt?”

Sora plops down on the porch steps and grins over at him, “I’ve been great! The volunteer group Kairi, Aqua, Terra, Ventus and I started is growing like crazy and people are coming from all over to join up and help the people on the poorer parts of the island. I’ve made so many new friends it’s hard to remember them all! There’s Donald, who’s a little cranky but is a wizard with money; Goofy, who’s a little slow but really funny and he gets along great with kids—”

Vanitas shuts his eyes and listens to Sora ramble on for the better part of an hour about his amazing friends, wonderful girlfriend, and all-around perfect life. By the time he’s finished he wants to put a bullet in his head.

Sora finally notices that he’s starting to lose his audience and dials back, “So how have you been Van?”

“Eh, can’t complain. Joined a band, work at an animal shelter, fuck anything that looks my way twice, same old,” Vanitas can’t help but laugh at the way Sora’s face scrunches up at his vulgarity. Corrupting his brother’s innocence had always been one of his favorite things to do.

“You’re working at an animal shelter? That’s great! What made you decide to do that?” Sora beams at Vanitas and he shrugs.

“Animals are better than people.”

Vanitas may act all grumpy, but Sora always knew he had a good heart deep down…way deep down. He smiles, and is surprised by a loud yawn that escapes him, “Man, it’s getting pretty late. It’s been great catching up with you, Van, but are you going to tell me why you’re here now.”

Vanitas smirks, time for the fun part, “I’m here because I ran into someone special the other day, and I thought you might want to know. Your boyfriend’s back.”

Sora cocks his head in confusion, “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“I’m talking about Riku, dumbass,” Vanitas growls out.

“Riku? Riku’s back!?!?” Sora lights up brighter than the sun and Vanitas wants to vomit. He waits a beat for the information to sink into Sora’s thick skull before he asks, “Wait, how do you know that?”

“Ran into him at a bar the other night.”

Sora gets quiet, blue eyes wandering toward the ground, “Did he say anything to you?”

“Just that he was only back for the summer.” Vanitas grins as Sora’s shoulders sag.

Sora stays quiet for a long time, trying to figure out why in the world Vanitas, a person Riku only tolerated in the best circumstances, would know that Riku was back before he, his _best friend_ , did. He can’t think of anything.

“He—was he okay?”

Vanitas shrugs again, “Seemed fine. Still a douche but now with the muscle to back it up.”

“Huh. Why he hasn’t called?” Sora sadly wonders out loud. Vanitas is pleased.

“Don’t know, didn’t ask.”

After while Sora yawns again, his exhaustion overwhelming the desire to keep chatting with his brother to pick his brain for anything else he might know about his wayward friend. He stands up off the porch and stretches, looking over at his brother, “Well, thanks for coming Van. It really was good to see you, you should come by more often.”

Vanitas waves a hand in the air as he rights himself and walks down the steps, “I’ll think about it.”

Sora watches him walk away for a while before turning and going inside the house to spend the rest of the night wondering what he’d done to make his best so angry that he hadn’t spoken to him in years.

Down the street, Vanitas smiles to himself. He couldn’t resist a little drama; sue him.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up in his childhood bedroom in his parent’s house on the Destiny Island was something Riku had honestly thought he’d never have to experience again. His mother is banging on the door and demanding that he come down to join them for breakfast. Riku groans, confirming that he’s awake and would be down shortly so that she would leave him alone. Four years spent carefully cultivating his independence and he’s reduced to being dragged out of bed by his mother at 7am on a Saturday. Wonderful.

His body screams in protest as he uncurls himself from the bed he’d outgrown years ago that serves as a near-perfect representation for why he’d left. It was too small; _everything_ on this island was too damn small. Even what they called a city here was little more than an overcrowded suburb lacking any trace of the splendor found in the towering skyscrapers and neon advertisements of even the smaller cities he’d been to on the continent. He glares at his own reflection in the mirror as he walks into the bathroom. What kind of masochist was he that he’d actually willingly come back to the place that had been suffocating him for his entire life?

There was a small part of him that was really hoping that this half-baked plan of his wouldn’t work out; that Sora would take one look at him, scream at him for a little while—maybe even hit him—then walk away and free him of all the guilt that stemmed from leaving the situation unresolved so Riku could feel justified in running away again. The part of him that actually had a brain knew that there was no way in hell that was ever going to happen.

Sora was just too good for that. He was probably going to accept the shitty apology without a second thought and carry on like he hadn’t been devastated by Riku’s actions, just like he’d been doing for the past eighteen-some years they’d been friends. He didn’t deserve Sora’s forgiveness, but he’d come back to beg for it anyway like the selfish asshole he knew that he was. He’d tried so hard to just leave it all behind, but just couldn’t stay away—even if coming back was already a hell of a lot harder than leaving in the first place.

He washes up and goes down for breakfast, spending the entire morning poking at his food with a fork while he listens to his mother talk over him about all the places they were going to go now that he was back on the island, and fends off all the pointed hints his father throws his way about applying for a summer job at the company he works for. Apparently they’d really missed having their trophy son around to show off. Whatever, they could think that they still owned him for a little while longer. After the summer he’d be gone for good, for real this time.

Having suffered through the morning he retreats back upstairs to his room to overthink just a little while longer. He had promised himself he would do it today. Sora had been waiting three years for his apology and he’d already spent two weeks wallowing in self-pity while pretending to ‘readjust’ to life on the island. He makes it all the way to getting himself dressed before tries to lie back down and convince himself not to go.

He’s interrupted in the middle of the period of internal screaming by his mother calling him down to come answer the front door. He’s half temped to tell her to just do it herself, it wasn’t like anyone knew he was back anyway unless—shit. The evasive frown on his mother’s face when he asks who it is tells  him everything he needs to know and his thoughts begin to spiral out of control. He’s not ready for this.

Another knock sounds from the door and it takes Riku thirty seconds of trying to remember how to breathe before he can answer. He pulls open the door slowly, just enough that he can peek through and see the bubbly ball of sunshine waiting for him on his front porch.

“Hi Riku,” Sora smiles at him nervously, looking a bit like he’s expecting to have the door slammed in his face.

Riku sighs and steps out, closing the door behind him and shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans to make himself seem as nonchalant as possible, “Sora, hey.”

He smiles at his friend and looks him over, strangely happy to see that he hardly looks any different from the last time he’d seen him. Same gravity-defying spikey brown hair, now just slightly longer. Same wide blue eyes that remind him of the ocean. Same crown necklace Riku had given him for protection when they were younger and he was scared of storms. Same old Sora. Gods, he had missed him.

A few seconds pass as they stare at each other, taking in everything they’d missed while they were apart, then before Riku can say anything else he’s being thrown back against his front door by the weight of Sora launching himself forward to wrap his arms around his neck.

“Where have you been? I tried calling you like a million times but you never answered, and your mom said she couldn’t get in touch with you either. I had to find out you were back from Vanitas of all people! I don’t know why you’ve been ignoring me, but I’m so glad you’re home,” Sora is hardly breathing between his sentences as he pokes and prods at Riku’s face, laughing at his bewildered expression.

Riku pushes him away and ruffles his hair, laughing himself, “It’s good to see you too.”  Sora pouts at him and crosses his arms, looking up at expectantly for an explanation.

 Riku turns his head away, “I’m sorry I didn’t call, but I was actually just on my over to see you.” Sora looks at him skeptically and he continues, “What? I was. I’ve been so busy with school and everything there were days when I could barely remember my own name. I’m sorry I wasn’t better at keeping in contact with you.”

“With anyone,” Sora interrupts. “We barely knew you were even still alive.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Riku sighs and bows his head.

His friend stares at him a little longer before grinning and stretching his arms behind his head, “Well, I’m sure you can expect a lot of lectures later. I’m sure Kai’s in the car just waiting to chew you out. We’re here to drag you out for ice-cream! I mean, if you want I guess.”

“Kairi’s here too?” Riku’s eyes widen in shock, he is so not ready for this.

“Yup. I had her wait in the car in case you didn’t want to see me,” Sora’s entire body droops and Riku feels so guilty he nearly falls to his knees.

He claps a hand on his friend’s shoulder and looks at him sincerely, “I’m sorry that I ever made you think that, Sora.”

This wasn’t even a fraction of everything Riku needed and wanted to say, but his carefully rehearsed speech had vanished from his mind the second he saw Sora on his doorstep. Now with Kairi here it was going to have to wait even longer; not that he didn’t have plenty to apologize to her for as well. Goddamn Vanitas for always doing exactly the opposite of what he said. If he’d had the time to prepare for this he might not be making such an ass of himself.

Sora waves his hand off and flashes his trademark dopey grin, all traces of sadness seemingly banished, “Buy me ice-cream and maybe I’ll forgive you.”

“Let me get my wallet,” Riku was willing to buy him the whole fucking store.

When he comes back out Sora and Kairi are both standing outside the ridiculous yellow Volkswagen that Sora had been given as a present on his sixteenth birthday. Sora has an arm wrapped around Kairi’s shoulders and is whispering something in her ear that makes her laugh and jokingly try to push him away. Riku feels his heart drop into his stomach as an all too familiar jealousy starts to take over. Damn it, he was supposed to be over this by now.

He stops moving, hoping maybe they didn’t notice him and he could sneak back inside for a few more minutes of mental preparation, but Sora starts waving him over. He cringes and walks slowly across the lawn. Kairi glares at him with her hands on her hips as she waits, then marches over when he’s nearly to the curb to punch him in the shoulder and wrap him in a fierce hug.

“We missed you, you jerk,” she scolds into his neck.

He hugs her back briefly and pulls away, “I know, I’m sorry.”

Kairi narrows her eyes, “Not nearly as sorry as you’re gonna be when I’m done with you.”

Sora walks over laughing and drapes his arm back around Kairi’s shoulders, pulling her back toward the car, “Don’t kill him yet Kairi, he’s still got to buy us stuff.” 

“Alright, but don’t think you’re getting off so easy mister,” she slides into the backseat, leaving the front for Riku and his much longer legs.

Riku goes quiet as Sora looks over at him and shrugs his shoulders with a ‘what can you do?’ expression on his face. He twirls his keys around his fingers and whistles as he walks around the car to climb in the driver’s side. Riku sighs and climbs into the car after him, it was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a single paragraph of a sexual encounter between Leon and Vanitas in the beginning of this chapter. I didn't tag it because it's not part of the plot at all really. If you want to skip it, it starts after "Forty-five minutes later". Also a character uses a homophobic slur in reference to himself.

The outside of Hollow Bastion during the day isn’t really any less ominous then it had been at night, a fact which Vanitas greatly appreciates. If anything, the peeling dark purple paint and pitch-black windows make it look even less like a place you’d want to be caught stumbling out of where anyone can see. On his way inside, Vanitas catches a brief glimpse of a tiny and partially hidden rainbow sticker tucked into the corner of one of the windows closest to the door that he’d overlooked the last time he was there. Huh. That explained a lot.

Talking heads on television could go on about ‘progression’ all they wanted, but the outlook of the gay community on the Destiny Island would probably always be permanently stuck in the 90s. Progress was a dirty word to people who had willingly marooned themselves on an island to escape the way the rest of the world was changing. Didn’t matter that growing up on a constant diet of avocado toast and  clothing optional beach bonfires had most kids turning out about as straight as a fruit basket; being anywhere even close to the queer spectrum here was something you simply did not advertise in public unless you were in the market for a good hazing by some muscle headed gym rats.

Any kind of positive association with the community was about as good as suicide for any business hoping to have anything close to customer base, and it was rare to see a place have the balls to just throw up a giant middle finger by advertising it right in the window. Vanitas automatically awards himself some points for booking a gig at a gay bar, even if he didn’t know it at the time. Braig was going to throw a fit about their ‘image’, but he was the one that had sent him there in the first place. Wasn’t like three of the four of them weren’t batting for the other team anyway.

There are only maybe two or three other people inside, so his favorite bondage-inspired bartender is already pouring him a drink while he takes a seat. Service with a scowl; just as he likes it. He sets the glass down in front of him and leans back against the counter on the inside of the bar, regarding Vanitas with cool disinterest, “Back again?”

Vanitas sips his drink and leans back lazily on his stool, “Well you’re such a great conversationalist I just couldn’t stay away.”

The bartender smirks at him, reaching to the side for a clear drink of his own that probably isn’t water, “You talk to Tifa?”

“Yeah, we’re playing here next week”

“Shame it’s not tonight, I’m off in half an hour,” the guy leers at him, and the hidden suggestion sends a small shiver down Vanitas’ spine toward the direction of his pants.

He leans forward onto the bar, “If you’re that hard up for entertainment I’m sure we can work something out.”

Forty-five minutes later Vanitas is on his knees jerking himself off in a cramped storage closet at the back of the building with ‘call me Leon’ practically ripping his hair out as he rams his cock down his throat. He grips the back of his head and shoves it into his pelvis, finishing with a low groan as Vanitas contracts his throat and greedily swallows everything. He drags Vanitas off the floor by his hair and wraps a calloused hand around his dick, jerking roughly until he cums into his hand.

They make out for a minute, then Leon fixes his clothes and leaves without another word. Hot. Vanitas could always appreciate a person that knew how to read a situation for what it was. There was no need to drag feelings or awkward platitudes into a random quickie in a dirty bar closet.

He cleans himself up and returns to his seat at the bar with a satisfied smirk on his face, signaling over the equally aloof blonde bartender that had taken Leon’s place for another drink. The guy fixes him with a glare that could dissolve titanium and wordlessly slams a glass down in front of him, sending drops of precious liquid sloshing out all over the counter. Weird; that kind of reaction was usually reserved for people that actually knew him.  

Someone sitting a few chairs down the bar chuckles as he sops up the mess with a spare napkin, “Man, you make friends everywhere you go, don’t you?”

Vanitas growls and looks over, perking up instantly when he sees a shock of silver hair slumped over on a barstool and moping into what was probably a pretentious bottle of craft beer. This day was a gift that just kept on giving.

“Well you know what mother always says,” Vanitas coos as he tosses the soggy napkin back behind the bar, “Sora got the brains and I got all the personality.”

Riku laughs then goes back to staring into the bottom of his bottle like it holds all the secrets of the universe. Never one to take kindly to being ignored, Vanitas picks up his drink and moves to slide into a seat next to him.

He props his elbows on the counter, forcing Riku to either scoot away or stay what is probably uncomfortably close to him, and looks over with a mischievous glint in his eye, “So, you talk to Sora yet?”

Riku glares at him and takes a deliberately long pull from his bottle, “That answer your question?”

 “How’s it feel to be on the other side of the wrath of the ‘bleeding heart protection squad’ for a change?” Vanitas smirks in delight and sips his drink.

“I’m sure you already know all about it.”

“I’m a little surprised Kairi hasn’t sent out the lynch mob yet.”

Riku sighs as he takes another drink, “It’s only Monday.”

“You know she’s just jealous that Sora loves you more than her.”

Riku’s eyes darken and his voice takes a threatening tone, “Don’t joke about that.”

“Oh, hit a nerve did I? Sorry but it’s not exactly uncommon knowledge that you and my brother are a little too close for just being ‘best friends’. Or you used to be, anyway.” Vanitas sneers and takes pleasure in the way his brother’s friend winces and sulks further.

“Seriously,” he growls, “Shut up or fuck off Van. I’m not in the mood.”

He slams his bottle on the bar and signals blondie back over for another. Vanitas scoots over a little, disappointed that he wasn’t exactly getting the explosive reaction to his teasing that he’d expected. Guess Riku really had mellowed out over the years. He looks so miserable Vanitas almost feels a little bad for him until he remembers he’s talking to the guy that once beat Sora bloody with a wooden sword during a play fight and played it off like an accident—and people said that _he_ had anger issues.   

“Geez, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this bitchy. Don’t tell me Sora actually didn’t forgive you or something.”

Riku slams back a shot that he’d ordered with his beer and grimaces, “If you actually think that’s true then I don’t know who the hell _you_ were living with for fourteen years.”

“You don’t deserve him.”

“I know,” Riku bows his head and goes quiet, rolling his bottle around on the counter.

Vanitas growls in frustration, “Damn you’re depressing. What the did you come back here for if all you’re going to do is mope around and act all guilty for something you were already forgiven for before you even stepped foot back here. Seems like a waste of time, considering the real reason you left.”

“Did I ask for your opinion? You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

“You can fuck right off with that. I’ve known you for years, asshole, and I’ve watched you fight for, then shrug off, Sora’s attention for over half of them. That and where you’re sitting right now paint a pretty clear fucking picture. You’re in love with him, and you can’t handle it.”

Riku looks away, mumbling into his bottle, “Is it that obvious?”

“Only to someone who knows what they’re looking for. Your little secret’s probably safe for now.”

“Not much of a secret anymore.”

Vanitas snickers, “What’d you do? Spray paint ‘ _I’m gay, bitches’_ in sparkly pink letters on your parents’ living room wall?”

“No Van, that was you,” Riku rolls his eyes but he still laughs when he thinks Vanitas isn’t looking.

“Glad you remember, that was a classic,” Vanitas pauses for a moment, “Does Sora know?”

“Probably not. I’ve never told him, and my parents would rather eat their own designer shoes than admit out loud their son’s a fag.”

“Lemme guess, they’re convinced it’s some sort of college phase and you’re going to wake up one morning suddenly ready to drag home some bitch that’s willing to poop out grand kids to carry on some imaginary legacy?”

“Something like that.”

Vanitas downs the last of the whiskey in his glass and goes quiet, remembering what an absolute  disaster trying to come out to his own parents had been. Most people thought the spray paint was just another cruel and sudden act of lashing out, but he’d struggled with trying to get them to accept him for years before hitting the point where he’d decided to do something drastic get it through their puritan homophobic skulls that he wasn’t going to change his mind. Even if it meant they’d disowned him afterward.

This wasn’t something Vanitas was prepared to have suddenly dragged back to the surface, and the alcohol maybe aided in him suddenly feeling an uncharacteristic bond with the person beside him. Doesn’t matter how much of an arrogant jerk you are, being rejected for something you couldn’t control still sucked.

“He won’t care, you know,” Vanitas mumbles and Riku looks confused. He rolls his eyes and continues, “About the gay thing. I don’t think Sora even knows how to be anything less than completely accepting.”

“That’s not the part I’m worried about,” Riku scoffs almost as a reflex, then softens, “but thanks anyway.”

“I guess there is a bit of a difference between being gay and being gay and in love with _him_ , but he still probably won’t care. Hell, he’ll probably be thrilled to death about it.”

“No he won’t. He’s in love with Kairi—always has been.”

“How are you ever going to really know that if you never tell him how you feel, idiot? Wait, is that why you came back? To tell him?” Vanitas is a little too drunk at this point to stop the excitement from creeping into his tone.

Riku sighs, “Yeah, and to apologize for the way I’ve treated him. He never deserved any of the things I’ve said and did to him because I was jealous, angry, or confused. I just…can’t live with it anymore.”

Damn, this is even better than he could have hoped for. Play his cards right and he could have a front row ticket to the greatest display of secondhand embarrassment since that dumbass Demyx thought it would be a good idea to break into his boyfriend’s lab and serenade him.

Vanitas shrugs, “I guess gay panic happens to the best of us. You’re a dick but at least you’re being honest about it.”

“Yeah, well, falling in love with your best friend isn’t an easy thing to come to terms with.”

“It’s better than your cousin.”

That one got a reaction. Riku does a pretty spot-on impression of one of those bubble-eyed goldfish for a few seconds before breaking into hysterical laughter. He laughs so hard he nearly falls off the bar stool, which sets Vanitas off, and they both sit there laughing like drunk morons until blondie comes by to drop off more drinks and glare like he’s going to kick them out if they don’t stop.

Riku calms down and fixes him with a serious expression as he reaches for his bottle, “You’re not kidding, are you?”

A upside to talking to a person that was as close to him as his own brother was that he didn’t even have to go through the trouble of detailing _which_ cousin. As if he would ever fall for Roxas….he needs to stop hanging around Braig.

“Tell anyone that and I’ll cut your tongue off and shove it up your ass,” Vanitas glares in Riku’s direction, daring him to start making fun of him, but he actually seems sympathetic.

“I’m hardly in a position to go around spilling other people’s secrets.”

Vanitas dips his head, “Ya know, you’re really not so bad when you’re not wrapped up in layers of impenetrable teenage angst.”

Riku tips his bottle toward him, “Likewise, but I’m pretty sure you still have me beat in that department.”  

“There’s a difference between a delinquent and a broody bitch-baby,”

“Yeah, and it doesn’t apply to you, so I don’t know why you’re still talking.”

It’s been a long time since he had a good verbal sparring partner. The closest he can usually get is Roxas, and that almost always ends with one or both of them bleeding. He’ll admit it’s a little refreshing to find someone else who can actually keep up with him that doesn’t have the trump card of just whining to Vanitas’ mother when he gets fed up.

“Touché,” Vanitas smirks into his glass and Riku smirks back.

This could be the start of a terrible friendship.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Boredom is slowly driving Riku to insanity. The beach had lost its splendor a long time ago, and it had only taken one trip to confirm that he really hadn’t been missing anything, especially when looking out at the ocean only succeeded in making him think about Sora’s eyes.  As much as it pained him to admit it, maybe his father was on to something with the idea of a summer job. Anything had to be better than lying around in his old house and missing someone that was just down the street.

Things just weren’t the same between him and Sora anymore. Their conversations were strained in a way they never had been before, with both of them trying to tip-toe around each other to avoid heavier subjects. Sora had been so eager at first to hear all about what Riku was doing in his time away, but every time he tried telling stories of people he’d met or places he’d been Sora would get quiet and pensive, like it was hurting him to hear how Riku had moved on without him.

Of course the reverse was also true. Hearing Sora tell him about the Wishing Star charity organization he’d started with the rest of their other friends to help the people on the parts of the island that were literally rotting away made him physically ill. He just didn’t understand how a person could be so wholeheartedly _good,_ and standing next to him made Riku feel like a monster in comparison for wanting nothing more than to leave the island and most of the people on it behind forever.

On top of that, Riku still hadn’t gotten around to making his confession. Every time he’d tried getting Sora alone in the past few weeks he’d either chickened out, or someone would interrupt them. He wasn’t sure how many times now he’d given himself the excuse of it ‘not being the right time’ or ‘not having the right words to say’, and every day that passed had him hating himself just a little more for still being so fucking scared of Sora’s reaction. He could pretend all he wanted, but he hadn’t really grown up at all.

He’s lazing on the living room couch blankly watching re-runs of some cartoon show Sora used to love when they were kids when someone starts knocking on the door. He mutes the TV and doesn’t move a muscle, hoping whoever it is will take a hint and just go away after a while. Sure he’s bored, but that doesn’t mean that he wants to talk to anyone. The knocking only gets louder and Riku covers his head with a pillow to try and block out the noise.

“I know you’re in there asshole, I can see you from the window,” a slightly muffled voice calls from behind the door.

Riku groans and tunnels further into the couch. Of course Vanitas would show up at his house uninvited; he really should have expected as much after what happened at the bar. The guy was like a parasite clinging to any negative energy he could feed off of so he could amplify it and make the situation worse. He didn’t know what had possessed him to start a conversation in the first place, he hadn’t been _that_ drunk.

“I’m not going to go away, so you can either get your ass up and open the door or I can break in and drag you out,” Vanitas keeps pounding on the door until Riku finally throws the blanket off and goes to answer it.  

“What do you want Van?” Riku growls at the mass of black clothing on his doorstep as he throws open the door.

Vanitas only smirks at him, “Nice outfit, very depressive chic.”

He looks down and realizes he’d answered the door in nothing but a ratty old t-shirt that barely fit anymore and a pair of bright yellow cartoon Mickey Mouse boxer shorts Sora had gotten him as a joke. Blushing, he nearly slams the door shut, but Vanitas is already pushing past him to force his way into the house.

He makes himself comfortable on the couch and steals a cookie from the half-empty package sitting on the coffee table as Riku gawks from the doorway, “What the fuck are you doing?”

Vanitas props up his combat boots on the coffee table, “Saving you from gaining fifty pounds and melting into your own sofa, apparently.”

Riku blinks, “What?”

He points the cookie at him and then shoves the entire thing in his mouth, chewing as he speaks, “We’re going out, go throw some clothes on unless you want to appear in public looking like you’re in the process of a mid-life crisis.”

Riku stomps into the living room and pushes Vanitas’ feet off the table, “I don’t know what makes you think that you can come into my house and start ordering me around.”

“It works for Sora and Kairi so I figured I’d give it a shot,” Vanitas crosses his arms behind his head and reclines back on the couch.

“We’re not friends,” Riku scowls.

Vanitas scoffs, “Of course we’re not friends—you have to actually be likable to get those—but you made the mistake of getting me invested in this drama going on between you and my brother and I want to know what happens next. If that means I have to come drag you out of your pity cave and remind you how to be a human it’s more your loss than mine.”

Riku glares at him, “Why do you even care?”

“I don’t,” Vanitas shrugs, “but Sora does. The sooner you get over yourself and confess all of your big gay feelings, the sooner I stop getting phone calls at 3am asking for advice on how to deal with your moping. All the heart-bleeders are worrying their little heads off over you but not a single one of them is going to do anything about it. I’m sick of hearing it, so go put your damn clothes on and get out of this house.”

Vanitas stands up from the couch puts two hands on Riku’s back to push him over to the stairs. He’s taken by surprise at first and nearly falls over, but manages to catch himself before face-planting into the carpet. He goes quietly the rest of the way, knowing that any attempt to struggle against the forceful shoving would only end in a fight he really didn’t have the energy for.

When they reach the base of the stairs Vanitas gives him one last push forward, “Don’t put on anything fancy and don’t bother taking a shower. You’ll be needing one later anyway.”

“You going to tell me where were going?” Riku mumbles as he starts climbing the stairs.

Vanitas smirks mischievously and chuckles, “Nope.”

-

Twenty minutes later they’re speeding down the highway in a truck that sounds like it’s seconds away from spontaneous combustion with Vanitas’ death metal blaring so loud they can probably hear it in the next county. Why the hell couldn’t Riku ever say ‘no’ to this fucking family?

A car honks from behind them as Vanitas drifts into another lane without using his turn signal and Riku shouts over the music, “What idiot gave you a driver’s license?”

“Bold of you to assume I have one,” Vanitas laughs and taps his fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of the music.

Riku shakes his head, leg bouncing absently, “I honestly have no idea how you’ve made it this long without getting yourself arrested again.”

Vanitas huffs and fakes offense as he raises his middle finger to car he’d cut off as it passes by them after they change lanes again, “I’m a model member of society, thank you very much.”

Riku snorts, “A disaster model maybe.”

They turn off the highway at an exit leading to one of the shadier slums of the island and Riku starts getting a little nervous, “Please tell me we’re not going out to try and pick up hookers.”

“At eleven o’ clock in the morning? Even I have more class than that,” Vanitas seems completely unphased as they drive past streets full of crumbling buildings with gangs of threatening people loitering on the corners.

Eventually they turn off onto a poorly maintained side road that takes them out of the populated areas and off to a building in the center of a flat expanse of land that’s fenced around the back and looks a bit like a prison.

Vanitas pulls into a spot toward the back of a small parking lot as Riku looks around, “Is this an animal shelter?”

“What, the giant sign wasn’t enough of a clue?” Vanitas kills his engine and hops out of the truck, “Come on, we’re late.”

Riku gets out of the truck and follows Vanitas into the building where they’re greeted by a perky and petite woman with cropped brown hair that looked like it had been the recent recipient of a large pair of kitchen shears.

“There you are! Everyone was getting antsy without you,” she smiles at them brightly and Vanitas actually looks a little guilty before playing it off with a casual shrug.

“Yeah, well I had to drop by and pick up another victim for voluntary servitude,” Vanitas gestures to Riku behind him.

The girls’ green eyes widen almost comically as she looks between them, eventually settling her gaze on Riku, “You’re a… friend of Vanitas then?”

She sounds so shocked and amazed the both of them break into a fit of laughter.

“More like a reluctant acquaintance,” Riku manages to get out between giggles and Vanitas howls beside him.

“O…K then,” the girl smiles awkwardly, not sure what to make of the unusual situation. She turns to Riku as he calms down and hands him a clipboard with a blank form on it, “If you’re here to volunteer I’m going to need you to fill this out for me. After that Vanitas can show you around and have you help him out. Sound good?”

Not sure what else to do, Riku nods and takes the clipboard from her. The form is pretty standard—name, address, phone number—and Riku quickly fills it out while Vanitas waits impatiently off to the side. When he hands the form back the girl looks it over and smiles at him at again, “Alright, Riku, everything looks good. How often are you going to be available to volunteer?”

Riku panics and he stammers out a few syllables before Vanitas rolls his eyes and steps in to save him, “Calm your tits Rapunzel, he’s only here for the day.”

Her smile faulters a little, “Oh…,” instantly she perks back up, “I guess that’s Ok, I’m not going to be the one to turn away an extra pair of hands.”

Before Riku can make any more of a fool of himself Vanitas comes over and nudges him toward the door leading to the animal kennels, “Let’s go loser, the adoring public awaits.”

They walk through the door and are immediately assaulted by a sad chorus of barks, yips, whines, and meows as the contained animals cry for attention from their cages.  The sound is heartbreaking, and Riku feels like he’s in way over his head. Vanitas tosses him a plain black apron from a rack in the corner and tells him to put it on as he ties back one of his own.

Riku stares at the apron, “Uh, Van, I don’t really…..I mean I’m not….I don’t know anything about animals.”

“Doesn’t matter. If you’ve got time to sit around in your underwear and watch cartoons, you’ve got time to sit in a room and cuddle kittens for a few hours. It’s not exactly rocket science,” Vanitas walks over and forcibly turns him around so he can tie off the apron Riku had awkwardly draped around his neck, “Come on.”

Vanitas leads him over to the room with the cat kennels and calls out, “Morning, furballs,” getting a chorus of pleading meows in return. Riku is astounded by the number of cats kept in floor to ceiling cages lining all four walls of the tiny room. In the back corner of the room there’s a small glass enclosure that holds a bench just barely big enough for two people to fit on and a few cat towers. Vanitas pushes Riku toward it and tells him to go sit down while he starts opening a few of the cages and pulling the cats out to gently carry them into the tiny space.

One of the cats he drops right on Riku’s lap, others he sets in the holes of the cat towers and some he just plops down on the floor. The cats stretch their legs and explore the room curiously sniffing at each other and the toys that are scattered around the little room. Riku stiffens as the cat in his lap settles in and starts to purr. Some of the cats on the floor rub their heads against him and twine around his legs while a few others jump up on the bench and climb around his chest and shoulders.

He tentatively takes his hand and starts to stroke the head and ears of the fluffy grey and black cat in his lap. The cat chirps at him and nuzzles its head further into his hand, purring even louder, and one of the smaller cats on his shoulder starts playfully batting at the hair in front of his face. Riku smiles, maybe this wasn’t so bad after all.

While he’s busy petting and a watching the cats that swarm around him, Vanitas moves in and out of the main room scrubbing out the cages and emptying litter boxes. Occasionally he glances over, presumably to make sure the animals aren’t trying to kill each other or the human in the room with them, but once Riku catches something that actually looks like a genuine smile on his face.

He comes back into the enclosure to collect the cats as the cages are cleaned, saving the one in Riku’s lap for last. He’s almost hesitant to hand it back. For the next round he collects a few of the feathered toys from the floor and dangles them around to the delight of the new group of mostly younger cats, laughing as they follow with their heads and reach up to try to swipe them out of the air.

Throughout the day other people come in and out to look at the cats. Children squeal as they bat their paws through the bars of their cages and he has to vacate the enclosure a few times to give potential adopters the chance to bond with a lucky chosen few. Riku’s both saddened and extremely happy to watch the cat that had been in his lap earlier go home with a patient father and an adorably excited young girl.

He has no idea how long they spend on this routine, but eventually Vanitas comes to join him in the enclosure cradling one last cat in his arms that looks like it’s been through a war. There’s a huge chunk of flesh missing from one of its ears, one eye is clouded over, and it has a scrunched-up face that makes it look like it’s permanently smelling something foul. Its short black fur is clean but patchy in a few places and it looks a little too thin to really be considered healthy.

“This might be the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen,” Riku comments as Vanitas sits beside him on the bench with the cat.

Vanitas scratches the cat’s good ear and smiles down at it, “I know, isn’t he great.”

Riku reaches over to try petting it and the cat hisses and swipes at his hand. He chuckles, “I can see why you two get along.”

Vanitas smirks and keeps scratching the cat’s head, “I found him shivering alone in the rain inside a dumpster next to my apartment building a couple months ago. My building doesn’t allow pets and this is the only shelter around that didn’t laugh in my face when I tried to bring him in.”

“Is that why you started working here?”

Vanitas nods, “I started as a volunteer just to keep an eye on him, and then one of the girls that helps run the place got sick. They were so hard up for help they practically begged me to take a job. The pay is almost worthless but we worked it out so I have to interact with people as little as possible. Plus they agreed to keep Scrappy here for as long as they reasonably could, since there’s probably not another person on the planet that’s going to want this little shitlord.”

Riku pauses, smiling softly “That’s….almost sweet of you.”

“What, that I brought him here to die slowly in a cage just like the rest of us?” Vanitas grumbles.

“That you’re giving him a chance.”

Vanitas’ hand freezes on the cat’s head for a moment before starting up again, “Whatever.” He stands up and goes to put the cat back in its cage, muttering a few words Riku can’t understand before closing it back up. He turns and gestures his head toward the door, “Come on, it’s time to walk the dogs.”

-

It’s dark by the time they finish up everything that needed cleaned and cared for at the shelter that day. Riku is exhausted, but at the same time he feels lighter and more satisfied with himself than he has in several years. Vanitas lowers the volume of his music to a reasonable level on the way home, and Riku actually finds it pretty tolerable now that it doesn’t feel like his ears are about to explode.

“Who is this?” he asks in the middle of a slower track with a haunting guitar melody that’s sending shivers up his arms.

Vanitas scoffs, “This? Just some local assholes without a goddamn clue what they’re doing.”

“I like it. You know them?”

 “Worse. I’m part of them.”

Riku looks over in surprise, “Wait, this is you?”

“Nah, this track is from before I joined. We still play it sometimes though, it’s one of the few from back then that doesn’t suck.”

“I didn’t know you played music.”

“Therapist recommended something to ‘channel aggression’, so now instead of beating the shit out of people I beat the shit out of a drum kit instead.”

“Nice,” Riku is genuinely happy that Vanitas had found an outlet for all the anger he’d held in his teenage years. Hell, he was almost pleasant to be around compared to how terrible he was back then.

Vanitas hesitates for a moment, “We, uh, have a show this Saturday at the bar we met at. You can come if you want, or whatever.”

“Maybe I will.”

An uncomfortable silence falls between them and Vanitas turns the music up a little louder. They don’t speak again for the rest of the drive back to Riku’s house. When they pull up to the curb Riku hesitates before getting out of the truck, “Hey Van?”

 Vanitas looks over at him with his eyebrows raised, “Yeah?”

“Thanks. Really,” It’s dark and he can barely see, but Riku can almost swear he just saw Vanitas blush.

“I’ve been there,” Vanitas sighs before glaring at him, “Don’t make me have to come drag you out again, you know I will.”

“Actually, I was thinking I might like to do that again, you know, for the summer.”

Vanitas’ voice hardens, “I’m not driving down here every day to pick your ass up.”

“I didn’t ask you to. I can find my own way up there,” Riku keeps his tone soft, not wanting to end the day on a sour note.

Vanitas’ eyes fall on him, like he’s trying to judge whether or not he’s lying, “They really need the help, so you better not flake out.”

“I’ll try not to,” Riku gets out of the truck.

 “Eh, who am I kidding? What you do and don’t do really isn’t my problem. Later loser,” Vanitas floors his gas pedal and takes off down the street with his tires screeching. Riku laughs and shakes his head before walking up his driveway.

When Riku gets inside the house his mother is in the living room typing away on her laptop. As he passes her she gags and turns around to face him, “Riku you smell like a barnyard, what on Earth have you been doing?”

“I was volunteering at an animal shelter with Sora’s brother,” he rushes toward the stairs, not wanting to spend any longer than necessary in the room.

His mother freezes and fixes him with a disapproving glance, “The criminal?”

Riku bristles. If you had asked him that morning he might have reacted the same way, but seeing for himself all the ways Vanitas had changed since they were younger had made things different, “That was ten years ago mom, he was just a kid. ”

His mother plasters a transparent smile on her face, “Just be careful sweetie, you know violent people like that don’t ever really change.”

“I will,” Riku rolls his eyes and says goodnight. No wonder Vanitas hated it here.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Self-care Vanitas wishes everyone reading this a room full of their favorite animal to make them happy.


End file.
